World armies pack PNG for APEC meet

Port Moresby: Papua New Guinea has deployed a multi-national force of warships, fighter jets and elite counter-terrorism troops to protect world leaders attending a major summit in its crime-plagued capital this week.

About 4,000 military personnel, around half of them foreign, will work with hundreds of police to patrol Port Moresby for the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation forum from Saturday, which will attract representatives from 21 nations.

Attendees are set to include China’s President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US Vice President Mike Pence, who is not even expected to sleep in the city, but stay overnight in Australia.

Up to 15,000 delegates are expected at the summit. Due to a shortage of hotel accommodation, many of them will bunk down on three cruise liners docked at the port, presenting additional security.

Although the threat posed by terrorism in PNG is considered minimal, the Melanesian country’s reputation for lawlessness and violent crime precedes it.

To ensure delegates are safe, the government has enlisted military help from Australia, the United States and New Zealand.

Australia is bankrolling much of the security operation.

Half the capital’s 300,000 people live in squatter settlements.